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Opinion

PM Trudeau’s “Monetary Policy” gaffe could cost the Liberals the election. But will it?

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Back in 1993 things were not going well for Canada’s Progressive Conservative Government.  Brian Mulroney’s government had served 2 mandates and Canadians were clearly ready to move on.  The Conservatives decided Kim Campbell would be the best leader to bring a renewed excitement to their reelection hopes.  Campbell was a fresh face and that was important to the party which was losing support quickly.  She was also from Vancouver, which was a nice change for the party normally represented by leaders from Ontario or Quebec.  Even more importantly, when she won the leadership she would become the first female leader of a country in North America.  As Canadians would discover just a few months later though, no one cared about any of that.  That campaign did not go well.  The Conservatives not only lost.  They were decimated right out of official party standing.  The governing party won just 2 seats in the entire nation (Jean Charest in Quebec, and Elsie Wayne in New Brunswick). Kim Campbell did not even win her own seat.  Henceforth the Reform Party represented the Conservative voice for the next two elections.

For one reason or another, Canadians simply did not connect with Kim Campbell.  One of the biggest gaffes of that election campaign came when a reporter pressed Campbell for details on an issue and she replied “The election is not a time to discuss serious issues.”  That was the wrong answer.  Despite what she may have truly meant, all Canadians heard was “I don’t need to explain anything to you.”.  That was exactly the wrong thing to say at the worst possible time.

Why bring this up now, 28 years later? Well Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has made his first major gaffe of this election campaign.   And for those who care about monetary policy (which should be everyone who pays taxes and works or has savings, etc) it’s very likely as stunning a statement as Kim Campbell made three decades ago.

First some background.  In 2021, Canadians find themselves in an astounding situation.  When the covid pandemic hit last year governments all over the world shut down their economies for weeks, and then months.  Government stimulus was the order of the day and Canada’s was among the most generous in the world.  People were paid to stay at home.  Businesses were paid to continue to provide jobs to people working from home.  Landlords were paid to keep tenants afloat.  All in all, government money is being spent at unprecedented rates.

To pay for all this the Trudeau government attempted to pass a bill through Parliament which would allow it to raise taxes at will without a budget and without even coming back to ask Parliament to present a plan or ask for approval.  That didn’t go over so well.  But instead of turning back the taps, or introducing a budget with higher taxes the government worked out a plan with the Bank of Canada.  How this works basically is that every month the Bank of Canada prints out a few billion dollars, and the government uses that to pay for all the stimulus they want.  Over the first year of covid that totalled about 350 Billion dollars!

The Bank of Canada has left the core function expressed in its mandate in order to print all this extra money.  Despite it’s best efforts to decouple inflation from the printing of extra money, it’s not working.  Canada’s inflation rate has been blowing through the target of 2% month after month after month.

This is the the mandate as expressed by the Bank of Canada itself on its website.

The Bank of Canada is the nation’s central bank. Its mandate, as defined in the Bank of Canada Act, is “to promote the economic and financial welfare of Canada.” The Bank’s vision is to be a leading central bank—dynamic, engaged and trusted—committed to a better Canada.

The Bank has four core functions:

  • Monetary policy: The Bank’s monetary policy framework aims to keep inflation low, stable and predictable.
  • Financial system: The Bank promotes safe, sound and efficient financial systems within Canada and internationally.
  • Currency: The Bank designs, issues and distributes Canada’s bank notes.
  • Funds management: The Bank acts as fiscal agent for the Government of Canada, managing its public debt programs and foreign exchange reserves.

The Bank of Canada’s mandate is expiring at the end of this year and the new mandate could change.  Some are saying the Bank should continue to print money at an unprecedented rate and Canadians will learn to live with high inflation.  Considering this drives up the cost of everything from our homes and vehicles, to the food we eat there could hardly be a more important issue.  That’s why PM Trudeau’s response to this question in Vancouver this week is so stunning.  When asked if he would consider a higher tolerance for inflation going forward here’s what he said.

 

Reporter Question about the renewal of the Bank of Canada mandate due at the end of 2021:

-Do you have thoughts about that mandate?  Would you consider a slightly higher tolerance for inflation?

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau: “When I think about the biggest, most important economic policy this government, if re-elected, would move forward, you’ll forgive me if I don’t think about monetary policy.” 

Of course this spurred an immediate reaction from the opposition Conservatives.  That oppostion is perhaps best summed up in this address from Pierre Poilievre.

The question is, will Canadians punish Prime Minister Trudeau for either lacking basic economic knowledge, or not caring about it?  Kim Campbell failed to win her own seat, but she did not seem to connect well with Canadians at all even before that election campaign.  Justin Trudeau has so far been immune to gaffes.  Even though he’s had more than 5 years in government, millions of Canadians stand by him loyally.  Will this time be any different?

After 15 years as a TV reporter with Global and CBC and as news director of RDTV in Red Deer, Duane set out on his own 2008 as a visual storyteller. During this period, he became fascinated with a burgeoning online world and how it could better serve local communities. This fascination led to Todayville, launched in 2016.

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Dan McTeague

Carney launches his crusade against the oilpatch

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Well, he finally did it.

After literally years of rumours that he was preparing to run for parliament and being groomed as Justin Trudeau’s successor.

After he, reportedly, agreed to take over Chrystia Freeland’s job as Finance Minister in December, only to then, reportedly, pull back once her very public and pointed resignation made the job too toxic for someone with his ambitions.

After he even began telegraphing, through surrogates, an openness to joining a Conservative government, likely hoping to preserve some of his beloved environmentalist achievements if and when Pierre Poilievre leads his party into government.

After all that, Mark Carney has finally thrown his hat into the ring for the position of Liberal leader and prime minister of our beloved and beleaguered country.

And, as I’ve been predicting, the whole gang of Trudeau apologists are out in force, jumping for joy and saying this is the best thing since sliced bread. Carney is a breath of fresh air, a man who can finally turn the page on a difficult era in our history, a fighter, and — of all things! — an outsider.

Hogwash!

This narrative conveniently ignores the fact that Carney has been a key Trudeau confidant for years. As Pierre Poilievre pointed out on Twitter/X, he remains listed on the Liberal Party’s website as an advisor to the Prime Minister. He’s godfather to Chrystia Freeland’s son, for heaven’s sake!

Outsider?! This man is an insider’s insider.

But, more importantly, Carney has been a passionate supporter and promoter of the Trudeau government’s agenda, with the job-killing, economy-hobbling Net Zero program right at its heart. The Carbon Tax? He was for it before he was against it, which is to say, before it was clear the popular opposition to it isn’t going away, especially now that we all see what a bite it’s taken out of our household budgets.

Even his course correction was half-hearted. In Carney’s words, the Carbon Tax “served a purpose up until now.” What on earth does that even mean?

Meanwhile, EV mandates, Emission Caps, the War on Pipelines, tax dollars for so-called renewables, and all of the other policies designed to stifle our natural resources imposed on us by the activists in the Trudeau government? They’re right up Carney’s ally.

Plus his record at the Banks of Canada and England, his role as the U.N.’s Special Envoy for Climate Action and Finance, and his passion projects like the Global Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ), and its subgroup the Net Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA), point to a concerning willingness to achieve his ideological goals by even the most sneaky, underhanded routes.

Take, for instance, the question of whether we need to “phase out” Canada’s oil and gas industry. Politicians who want real power can’t just come out and endorse that position without experiencing major blowback, as Justin Trudeau found out back in 2017. Despite years of activist propaganda, Canadians still recognize that hydrocarbon energy is the backbone of our economy.

But what if oil and gas companies started having trouble getting loans or attracting investment, no matter how profitable they are? Over time they, and the jobs and other economic benefits they provide, would simply disappear.

That is, in essence, the goal of GFANZ. It’s what they mean when they require their members – including Canadian banks like BMO, TD, CIBC, Scotiabank and RBC – to commit to “align[ing] their lending and investment portfolios with net-zero carbon emissions by mid-century or sooner.”

And Mark Carney is their founder and chairman. GFANZ is Mark Carney’s baby.

In truth, Mark Carney is less an outsider than he is the man behind the curtain, the man pulling the strings and poking the levers of power. Not that he will put it this way, but his campaign pitch can be boiled down to, “Trudeau, but without the scandals or baggage.” Well, relatively speaking.

But the thing is, it wasn’t those scandals – as much of an embarrassment as they were — which has brought an unceremonious end to Justin Trudeau’s political career. What laid him low, in the end, was bad policy and governmental mismanagement.

To choose Mark Carney would be to ask for more of the same. Thanks, but no thanks.

Dan McTeague is President of Canadians for Affordable Energy.

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Daily Caller

Opinion: Trump Making ‘Sex’ Great Again On Day One Of Presidency

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From the Daily Caller News Foundation

By Megan Brock

One day into his presidency, Trump has taken significant executive action to preserve the integrity of the sexes and root out gender ideology from the federal government.

Throughout his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump promised to affirm the unique distinctions of the two sexes, male and female, and reverse the spread of gender ideology that was pushed during the Biden administration. Trump kept that promise Monday by signing an executive order (EO) titled “Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism And Restoring Biological Truth To The Federal Government,” which defends the integrity of the sexes by mandating the federal government apply “clear and accurate language” that includes requiring the use of the term “sex” over “gender.”

“My Administration will defend women’s rights and protect freedom of conscience by using clear and accurate language and policies that recognize women are biologically female, and men are biologically male,” the EO states.

“When administering or enforcing sex-based distinctions, every agency and all Federal employees acting in an official capacity on behalf of their agency shall use the term ‘sex’ and not ‘gender’ in all applicable Federal policies and documents.”

Trump’s order defines male and female as “immutable biological” classifications, noting that “sex” is not synonymous with the term “gender identity.”

“‘Sex’ shall refer to an individual’s immutable biological classification as either male or female. ‘Sex’ is not a synonym for and does not include the concept of ‘gender identity’,” the EO states.

“Gender Identity” is a term used by transgender activists to describe an individual’s imagined sex. Transgender activists believe a person’s imagined sex is as real as their physical sex, and should hold equal weight in society and law.

For example, in April 2024 the Biden administration expanded Title IX regulations, which prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex, to include “gender identity,” giving men claiming to have a female “gender identity” full legal access to women’s sports and private spaces. A federal judge recently struck down the expanded Title IX regulations in a lawsuit filed against the Biden administration by six states, including Tennessee.

Jordanne Kemper, campaign director for Independent Women, praised Trump for protecting women by correctly defining the terms “gender identity” and “sex.”
“Words must have meaning. The radical view that ‘gender identity’ means the same things as ‘sex’ proved that when words aren’t defined, women pay the price,” said Kemper.
“President Trump’s executive order recognizes the erosion of women’s rights and denounces the conflation of ‘gender identity’ and ‘sex’. Now the government and our courts can’t misconstrue laws intended for women and girls. The American people asked for this clarity and President Trump delivered,” Kemper added.

Transgender activists often use the terms “gender” and “gender identity” interchangeably.

The World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) described how these terms are used synonymously in their gender medical guidance, called the Standards of Care version 8 (SOC 8), which is routinely used by medical associations, governments, and insurance companies in the U.S. and abroad to create policy driven by gender ideology.

“Depending on the context, gender may reference gender identity, gender expression, and/or social gender role, including understandings and expectations culturally tied to people who were assigned male or female at birth,” the SOC 8 states.

“Gender identities other than those of men and women (who can be either cisgender or transgender) include transgender, nonbinary, genderqueer, gender neutral, agender, gender fluid, and “third” gender, among others; many other genders are recognized around the world.”

This muddying of language is found throughout medical institutions including The National Institutes of Health who define gender as “A multidimensional construct that encompasses gender identity and expression, as well as social and cultural expectations about status, characteristics, and behavior as they are associated with certain sex traits.”

The Trump administration acknowledged how the corruption of language by transgender activists has had an “corrosive impact” on American society, stating: “The erasure of sex in language and policy has a corrosive impact not just on women but on the validity of the entire American system,” in the EO. “Basing Federal policy on truth is critical to scientific inquiry, public safety, morale, and trust in government itself.”

The term “gender identity” was popularized in the 1960s by controversial sexologist John Money, whose most high-profile experiment involved advising parents of a boy whose penis was damaged in a botched circumcision to cut the rest of it off and raise him as a girl. At age 15, the boy — who was raised as “Brenda” — discovered the truth and rejected further hormone treatments. He eventually committed suicide at age 38.

Gender ideology believes a person’s sex can differ from their “gender identity,” rejecting the long-established scientific understanding of biology that there are only two sexes based on the fact there are only two types of reproductive cells — sperm and ova.

The very concept of “gender identity” creates the possibility of changing one’s sex — a biological impossibility — through medical interventions, therefore creating a demand for medical sex reassignment interventions.

WPATH defines “gender identity” in the SOC 8 as “a person’s deeply felt, internal, intrinsic sense of their own gender,” whereas the Trump administration defines it as “A fully internal and subjective sense of self, disconnected from biological reality.”

The EO further explains that because “gender identity” is wholly subjective to the individual, it cannot be used to replace the objective reality of sex.

“‘Gender identity’ reflects a fully internal and subjective sense of self, disconnected from biological reality and sex and existing on an infinite continuum, that does not provide a meaningful basis for identification and cannot be recognized as a replacement for sex,” Trump’s EO states.

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